Former area Marine recognized by county, country; lives full life WITH VIDEO

As a sharpshooter in the 51st Defense Battalion of the Montford Point Marines during World War II, Edgar Leonard Smith never had to go into combat.

But being a black man in the mostly white-dominated military, he said he did have a lot to endure -- for his race and his country.

Watch a report on the honoring of Smith on today's News at Noon.

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He was a member of the first group of black Marines in the military from 1943-46, an honor and challenge in itself during that time.

Pontiac Commissioner Mattie Hatchett said it best in a recent proclamation presented to the Montford Point Marines: "(They) are pivotal figures and important role models in America's history, a history that began June 1, 1942, when thousands of recruits reported to the segregated Montford Point Camp in New River, Camp Lejunem North Carolina."

At an early-November Board of Commissioners meeting, Hatchett took a few moments to recognize Smith's outfit again.

"We, in the Metro Detroit and Michigan area have the privilege of over 57 living Montford Point Marines, with 22 being legendary heroes of WWII," Hatchett said. "Today, let us remember all who have served and give the long-overdue recognition to the Montford Point Marines."

It isn't until you talk with Smith for an extended period that one realizes he also is a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient.

The long-overdue recognition that Hatchett mentioned refers to the time between the end of WWII and 2012 that passed before the Montford Point Marines were recognized "For outstanding perseverance and courage that inspired social change in the Marine Corps," as the inscription on the medal reads.

Just in case that time-frame didn't sink in, that's 66 years.

An act was passed in Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama on Nov. 23, 2011, and this year on June 27, the Montford Point men were finally recognized by their country for being trailblazers for civil rights in America and for their service.

Smith did not always want to join the military, though his service did open many doors for him.

Born in Louisiana and raised in Dermott, Va., Smith was always deeply engaged in his education.

He moved to Memphis, Tenn., after high school to train to be a welder and shortly after, decided to go to Pittsburgh because he heard steel plants were hiring.

It was there, at Henderson Business College, that Smith was drafted into the armed services.

"There were four lines at the center," Smith said. "One for the Navy, one for the Army, one for the Marine Corps and one for the Air Force."

He said he got in the Army line at first because he had a brother who had gone into the Navy, and he knew he couldn't swim.

"When I got up to the front, someone said 'You're supposed to be in the Marine's line,' so I went over there and I ended up spending three years in the Montford Point Marines," Smith said.

He said he had it lucky. His platoon was shipped to the Fiji Islands, where they would help load and unload cargo ships, train every day, and be at alert in case they were called into battle.

It took him about four months to get classified as a sharp shooter within his platoon -- an outfit of about 50 men.

Smith is very proud to be included in the group of the first African American soldiers that were allowed to serve their country in WWII.

"There were no black men allowed to go into the Marine Corps for 167 years before this time," he said, referencing the directive signed into order by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941, integrating the Marine Corps.

"We had a pretty rough time," Smith said, "because -- for one reason or another -- we weren't treated the same way the white Marines were treated. We were segregated."

But he and his platoon acted in a group "but as one body, if that makes sense," he said. He said he felt a real sense of camaraderie with his fellow troops.

He related a story about one particular night after "lights out," when someone in his barracks was smoking a cigarette and the sergeant came into see who it was.

"Everyone stayed silent," Smith said. "Then we all had to go outside and do drills in our skivvies, with mosquitos biting all of us."

He said that was how it always was. If they suffered -- even in the softest of situations -- they suffered together.

Talking to Smith, it isn't easily recognizable that he is a war veteran.

He is a humble man who has had many experiences, but doesn't boast.

His time in the Marine Corps also afforded him great educational opportunities, he said.

After being honorably discharged in 1946 as a corporal, Smith attended Moorehouse College in Georgia on a presidential scholarship -- the GI Bill, he said -- and earned a pre-medicine degree in Biology.

"I was in school at the same time Martin Luther King Jr. was either a junior or a senior at the school," Smith said.

In 1959, he earned a doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from Tuskeegee University, where he met his wife, Pauline.

They settled down in Iowa, and later moved to Michigan, where Smith worked at several different private veterinary practices and was an inspector for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Edgar and Pauline have two sons, Eric and Edgar Jr., who are both entrepreneurs in Detroit and Cincinnati, respectively.

To fill his time during retirement, Smith still serves as a consultant for the Hurley Dog and Cat Hospital in Detroit.